[candyman]

I presume the US banking industry pays lots to lobby and makes big campaign donations, gives senators offspring jobs, etc. In the old days we got great at check processing and lowered the cost to pennies. Processing a transaction should be close to free (especially in a debit scenario.) I just paid 1.4% on Coinbase to transfer USD to ALGO. (They probably make something on the spread also.) But 3%+ on a card? One thing I did hear from some retailers is that the cards that provide lots of benefits and cash back charge more to cover the benefits. That money has to come from somewhere.

[missedthecue]

Processing fees have to cover chargebacks. That's processing fees in some industries prone to chargebacks (adult for instance) are eye-wateringly high. 10% or more in many cases.